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14th Street bridges
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14th Street bridges
The 14th Street bridges are a set of adjacent five road and rail bridges that cross the Potomac River, connecting Arlington, Virginia and Washington, D.C. A major gateway for automotive, bicycle and rail traffic, the bridge complex is named for 14th Street (U.S. Route 1), which feeds automotive traffic into it on the D.C. end.
The complex contains three four-lane automobile bridges—including, from west to east, one southbound, one bi-directional, and one northbound—that carry Interstate 395 (I-395) and U.S. Route 1 (US 1) traffic, as well as a bicycle and pedestrian lane on the southbound bridge. In addition, the complex contains two rail bridges, one of which carries the Yellow Line of the Washington Metro; the other of which, the only mainline rail crossing of the Potomac River to Virginia, carries a CSX Transportation rail line. The five bridges, from west to east are the George Mason Memorial Bridge, the Rochambeau Bridge, the Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge, the Charles R. Fenwick Bridge and the Long Bridge. In aerial photos, shadows caused by a large, concrete divider on the bi-directional Rochambeau Bridge create the illusion of two, two-lane bridges, but this is in fact, a single, four-lane structure.
On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 clipped the 14th Street Bridge, the northbound I-395 span of the complex, during rush hour and crashed into the Potomac River; this killed four people on the bridge, along with 74 passengers and crew on the aircraft. The repaired span was renamed in honor of Arland D. Williams Jr., a passenger on the plane who survived the initial crash, but drowned after repeatedly passing a helicopter rescue line to other survivors.
Each of the complex's five bridge spans has its own name. From east to west, the bridges are:
At the north end of the bridges, in East Potomac Park, the three roadways connect via an interchange to a pair of two-way bridges over the Washington Channel into downtown Washington: one six-lane bridge connecting to 14th Street (US 1), and the eight-lane Francis Case Memorial Bridge connecting to the Southwest Freeway (I-395). The Metro line connects to a tunnel under Washington Channel that leads into L'Enfant Plaza station. The mainline railroad from the Long Bridge passes over I-395 before crossing the Washington Channel on a bridge, and then turns northeast along the line of Maryland Avenue.
The name "Long Bridge" was given to a series of bridges across the Potomac dating back to 1809. At times, some of the bridges were referred to as the Bridge at 14th Street, but more often by other names.
The first bridge opened as the Washington Bridge on May 20, 1809 and originally carried vehicle, pedestrian and horse traffic. By the 1830s it began to be called the "long Bridge across the Potomac" to distinguish it from the bridge near Little Falls, but over time, the colloquial name was shortened to just the "Long Bridge". Rails had been built to the bridge from the Washington side in 1855 and from the Virginia side in 1857, but there weren't placed on the bridge until the Civil War.
In 1864, a new bridge was built adjacent to the original bridge. When the U.S. Military railroad Charles Minot fell through one of the spans of the old bridge on February 18, 1865, the rails were moved to the new bridge and the old bridge became used for non-rail traffic only, as had been recommended in the prior year. To some the old bridge became the "turnpike bridge" and the new one the "railroad bridge." For others the two bridges were referred to separately as the Long Bridge and the railroad bridge or as two parts of one "Long Bridge".
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14th Street bridges
The 14th Street bridges are a set of adjacent five road and rail bridges that cross the Potomac River, connecting Arlington, Virginia and Washington, D.C. A major gateway for automotive, bicycle and rail traffic, the bridge complex is named for 14th Street (U.S. Route 1), which feeds automotive traffic into it on the D.C. end.
The complex contains three four-lane automobile bridges—including, from west to east, one southbound, one bi-directional, and one northbound—that carry Interstate 395 (I-395) and U.S. Route 1 (US 1) traffic, as well as a bicycle and pedestrian lane on the southbound bridge. In addition, the complex contains two rail bridges, one of which carries the Yellow Line of the Washington Metro; the other of which, the only mainline rail crossing of the Potomac River to Virginia, carries a CSX Transportation rail line. The five bridges, from west to east are the George Mason Memorial Bridge, the Rochambeau Bridge, the Arland D. Williams, Jr. Memorial Bridge, the Charles R. Fenwick Bridge and the Long Bridge. In aerial photos, shadows caused by a large, concrete divider on the bi-directional Rochambeau Bridge create the illusion of two, two-lane bridges, but this is in fact, a single, four-lane structure.
On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 clipped the 14th Street Bridge, the northbound I-395 span of the complex, during rush hour and crashed into the Potomac River; this killed four people on the bridge, along with 74 passengers and crew on the aircraft. The repaired span was renamed in honor of Arland D. Williams Jr., a passenger on the plane who survived the initial crash, but drowned after repeatedly passing a helicopter rescue line to other survivors.
Each of the complex's five bridge spans has its own name. From east to west, the bridges are:
At the north end of the bridges, in East Potomac Park, the three roadways connect via an interchange to a pair of two-way bridges over the Washington Channel into downtown Washington: one six-lane bridge connecting to 14th Street (US 1), and the eight-lane Francis Case Memorial Bridge connecting to the Southwest Freeway (I-395). The Metro line connects to a tunnel under Washington Channel that leads into L'Enfant Plaza station. The mainline railroad from the Long Bridge passes over I-395 before crossing the Washington Channel on a bridge, and then turns northeast along the line of Maryland Avenue.
The name "Long Bridge" was given to a series of bridges across the Potomac dating back to 1809. At times, some of the bridges were referred to as the Bridge at 14th Street, but more often by other names.
The first bridge opened as the Washington Bridge on May 20, 1809 and originally carried vehicle, pedestrian and horse traffic. By the 1830s it began to be called the "long Bridge across the Potomac" to distinguish it from the bridge near Little Falls, but over time, the colloquial name was shortened to just the "Long Bridge". Rails had been built to the bridge from the Washington side in 1855 and from the Virginia side in 1857, but there weren't placed on the bridge until the Civil War.
In 1864, a new bridge was built adjacent to the original bridge. When the U.S. Military railroad Charles Minot fell through one of the spans of the old bridge on February 18, 1865, the rails were moved to the new bridge and the old bridge became used for non-rail traffic only, as had been recommended in the prior year. To some the old bridge became the "turnpike bridge" and the new one the "railroad bridge." For others the two bridges were referred to separately as the Long Bridge and the railroad bridge or as two parts of one "Long Bridge".
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